Bryce AldertonEvents and happenings at the Toshiba...

Bryce Alderton

Events and happenings at the Toshiba Senior Classic:

A private gathering will be held at 6 p.m. today in memory of

Chris Premer, the former media director for the Toshiba Senior

Classic.

Premer was killed in a plane crash three miles from the Ontario

Airport in Norco Oct. 1 , just 11 days before his 31st birthday.

Family members, tournament officials and media will gather to

refect on Premer’s life and contributions to the tournament.

*

Champions Tour players are raving about the course conditions and

how much they look forward to returning to NBCC.

Course Superintendent Ron Benedict and his crew have the poa annua

greens rolling smoothly, the perennial rye fairways mowed evenly and

the rough nearing 2 1/2 inches thick.

Several golfers praise the course as one of the few remaining on

tour that is of the “old style,” meaning tree-lined, narrow fairways,

small greens and a holes that butt up to one another. There isn’t

much distance between the green of one hole and the tee of another.

“All the guys look forward to coming here,” said Fuzzy Zoeller,

who finished tied for 15th in 2002 and also competed here last year.

“It is not to much the length that is a factor, but the small

greens and small targets. Anybody in the field has an opportunity to

win, which is great. This is what the Champions Tour was made of

before the monsters we are playing on now.”

The par-71 layout measures 6,571 yards this week and was

originally designed by William Bell. Subsequent -- though not too

drastic -- changes were developed by Harry Rainville and Ted

Robinson.

Chi Chi Rodriguez has played in eight of the nine prior

tournaments and made no doubts as to what Champions Tour course was

his favorite.

“[NBCC] is the best course on the Champions Tour,” Rodriguez, 68,

said. “The holes are narrow, the greens are good and you don’t have

to drive it far to win here. Anyone who tees it up has a shot at

winning. It gives Grand-Champions players like me a chance.”

The Grand Champions program is open to all golfers ages 60 and

older who are entered into full-field Champions Tour events. Scores

posted during the first two rounds of the event [Friday and Saturday]

determine the winner of the “tournament within a tournament.” Grand

Champions earnings do not count toward the Champions Tour official

money list.

There are 12 Champions Tour events that feature Grand Champions

competition, but Toshiba is not one of them.

Jerry McGee, 60, has played in all nine prior Toshiba Senior

Classics, earning $44,718 in that time, and will compete again this

year.

“This is a fun golf course to play,” McGee said.

Hajime Meshiai, making his Champions Tour debut at this week’s

tournament, played the course twice last week and has been out the

first two days.

“I look forward to playing here,” Meshiai said through an

interpreter. “There are fast greens with undulations. The course is

in great condition and is a beautiful layout.”

Greens generally break toward the Pacific Ocean with the most

severe being the par-4 seventh hole, which measures 368 yards.

*

Jack Nicklaus is scheduled to tee off on the 10th hole at 12:45

p.m. today in the first of two Pro-Am days.

The Golden Bear is then slated to start on No. 1 in Thursday’s

Pro-Am at 7:15 a.m.

The Pro-Ams are open to the public and give spectators a chance to

see the legendary golfer -- making his first appearance at Newport

Beach Country Club -- in a less-crowded setting than during the

three-day tournament which begins with Friday’s first round.

Single-day tickets cost $15.